


a hair out of place

by rythyme (pugglemuggle)



Category: Free!
Genre: Crushes, Cute Nitori Aiichirou, Fluff, Hair Braiding, M/M, Matsuoka Rin is a Tease, One-Sided Attraction, POV Nitori Aiichirou, Pining, Sportsfest 2018, Young Love, and they were roommates!!!, gay disaster nitori aiichirou, slight hair kink???
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:27:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25632808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pugglemuggle/pseuds/rythyme
Summary: “My hair?” Rin says. “I guess it’s bothering me a little. But unless you have clips or something, I think I’m out of luck.”Before he can think better of it, Aiichiro makes an offer.“Maybe I could braid it for you?”(Or, Rin is a very pretty roommate, and Nitori is a gay disaster. Braiding Rin's hair might literally kill him.)
Relationships: Matsuoka Rin/Nitori Aiichirou
Comments: 12
Kudos: 74
Collections: SportsFest 2018





	a hair out of place

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mousapelli](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mousapelli/gifts).



> I wrote this for SportsFest in 2018?? I happened to find it again while poking around in my drive so I figured I might as well post it!
> 
> Originally posted on the [SportsFest dreamwidth Bonus Round](https://sportsfest.dreamwidth.org/11674.html?thread=2373274#cmt2373274) and inspired by [this prompt](https://sportsfest.dreamwidth.org/11674.html?thread=2167194#cmt2167194) from mousapelli!

The thing about Rin is that despite his brooding tendencies and unnaturally pointed teeth, he’s actually really, really pretty.

Aiichiro is all too aware of this fact. He’s been roommates with Rin for two weeks now, which has been more than enough time for him to develop a crush a mile wide. It’s a miserable, useless, ill-advised crush that Aiichiro has been desperately trying to get rid of since the moment it manifested, because Rin is both his roommate  _ and his senpai _ _,_ and liking him like that is definitely embarrassing, but... Rin really hasn’t been making moving on an easy thing to do.

All the aforementioned prettiness is disastrous for Aiichiro’s recovery, especially when he spends at least half of his day at Rin’s side, if not more. Rin is an extremely dedicated athlete, and the results of that show. Aiichiro can’t count the number of heart palpitations Rin has given him because of spontaneous dorm room shirtlessness, or the number of times he’s made Aiichiro’s heart stop altogether with something as simple as a strong hand on his shoulder. 

Everything about him is just...too much. Rin has an unfairly pretty eyes, which makes it a little difficult to maintain eye contact for any significant period of time. Rin’s eyelashes are distracting. His hands are distracting. His biceps are _very_ distracting. It's frankly unfair.

More than anything else, though, it’s Rin’s hair.

Aiichiro hadn’t been into long hair before Rin—which is laughable, because nowadays it seems to be all he can think about: Rin’s hair, lightly tangled as he yawns and runs his hand through it to fix his usual morning bedhead. Rin’s hair, soft and loose where it peeks out from under the swim cap to brush the nape of Rin’s neck. Rin’s hair, damp and clinging to his face after a post-practice shower. Rin’s hair, mussed from an hour of absent-minded fingers combing through it during a study session. Rin’s hair, pulled back in a loose ponytail that never fails to utterly destroy Aiichiro’s poor gay heart.

He’s going to die, one of these days.

Aiichiro daydreams about touching Rin’s hair. All things considered, it isn’t the worst thing he could be daydreaming about. Still, the fantasies leave him feeling guilty and embarrassed every time he resurfaces. If Rin knew, he’d think Aiichiro was weird. Which he is. Gosh, Aiichiro is completely doomed. 

Aiichiro is feeling particularly doomed and miserable one Wednesday evening after a long swim practice session. About half-way through practice, Rin complimented him on something Aiichiro can’t even remember now, and Aiichiro couldn’t even manage a “thank you” on account of being so completely and utterly smitten that the entire Japanese language fled his mind faster than differential equations before a math test. Now Aiichiro is sulking in the shared dorm room, trying to get some homework done before Rin gets back from his shower and inevitably destroys his focus.

As predicted, his concentration disappears as soon as Rin walks into their room with freshly blow-dried hair and loose-fitting pajamas. Rin’s face and shoulders are still tinged pink from the hot shower. Aiichiro swallows and blinks.

“Um. Nice shower?” he manages. Rin makes a neutral sort of noise and drops down onto his bed.

They work in silence for a little while, Rin reading an essay on his bed and Aiichiro struggling through a worksheet at the desk. A few minutes in, Rin ties up his hair, which Aiichiro attempts not to notice. There’s a strand that keeps escaping from the hair tie, and Rin pushes it back every other minute or so. Aiichiro wonders if it’s bothering him.

“Is that bothering you?” he asks, because apparently freshly-showered Rin is now in the business of destroying not only hearts, but also brain-to-mouth filters. 

“Hm?” Rin says. The strand of hair dislodges again as he looks up. “Is what bothering me?”

“Um. Your hair,” Aiichiro says. He gestures, and Rin’s own hand copies the movement, finding the  stray piece of hair.

“Oh. You mean my hair,” he says. “I guess it’s bothering me a little. But unless you have clips or something, I think I’m out of luck.”

“Maybe I could braid it for you?”

The words are spoken in a rush, barely comprehensible, but Rin definitely heard them. Aiichiro feels his face heat. He prays for the floor to open up and swallow him so he doesn’t have to deal with the fallout of this moment of temporary insanity.

“Okay. Yeah, that might work,” Rin says. And then Rin pats the bed next to him.

Rin pats the bed.

_ The bed. _

“U-uh. Um. Yeah. Okay.” Aiichiro stands mechanically. Crosses the room. Sits.

Rin pulls out his hair tie and turns so that his back is to Aiichiro. It’s like something straight out of one of Aiichiro’s daydreams. He feels entirely unequipped to handle this situation.

He must take a few moments too long, because Rin turns slightly, looking at him over his shoulder and saying, “You still up for it? If not—”

“No,” Aiichiro rushes. “I mean yes, I’m fine, I’m fine.” He is not fine. He rubs his sweaty palms on his pants in a way that he hopes is discrete and then, slowly, shakily, brings his hands up to gently pull back Rin’s hair.

It’s just as soft as Aiichiro has always imagined it to be. He lets the strands run between his fingers, combing through them tenderly as he tries to keep himself from saying anything that might ruin the moment. It’s difficult. Rin lets out a soft sigh that almost has Aiichiro keeling over on the spot, but he manages to get ahold of himself enough to separate Rin’s hair into three sections and begin a French braid. 

Aiichiro isn’t sure that he’s ever experienced anything more intimate than this moment. His face feels so hot he thinks he might melt, and his fingers are trembling, and he’s dangerously close to biting through his own bottom lip, but Rin’s _close._ Closer than he’s ever been. He’s close enough that Aiichiro thinks he can smell Rin’s shampoo. God. How is this real?

Aiichiro braids slowly, carefully, but Rin’s hair isn’t long enough for this to take much time. In a few minutes, Aiichiro has reached the ends of his hair, and Rin is passing back the hair tie, and Aiichiro is tying it with a finality that settles like a weight low in his chest.

“Done,” he murmurs.

Rin turns around, swinging his legs back over the edge of the bed. He gives Aiichiro a soft smile. “Thanks, Nitori.”

“Of course,” Aiichiro says. He hopes his voice doesn’t sound as faint as he feels.

The rest of the evening passes by in a haze. Rin goes back to studying, and Aiichiro pretends to do the same, but his mind won’t do anything but replay the memory of braiding Rin’s hair over and over again. It’s surreal. He’s half-convinced he imagined the whole thing until lights out comes and Rin is _still_ wearing the braid. 

Rin looks really, really cute.

“Goodnight,” Rin says. 

“Goodnight,” Aiichiro echoes.

It takes a long time for him to fall asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you liked it! if you did, feel free to let me know in the comments - no pressure though!!! i just love to hear what y'all think <3


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